I am in a celebratory mood tonight! After yesterday where things were not so good- busy day at work (which was fine), home late, went for a run still (how dedicated)- again that went fine but then our shower decided to not work- only cold water would come out, and if you turned the dial around to hot the pressure went. We do have a bath too, luckily, but the shower hose is old and leaky, so it does not work! Cue a lot of trying to fix it, before resorting to a bath and dry shampoo, and Andy spending half the night trying to fix the shower before we gave in and went to get a new shower hose for the bath! (We are having the shower room re-done soon and have the new shower sat in our garage so don’t want to waste money fixing something for the next couple of weeks). Anyway, it was quite an annoying evening.

But today!

I had a hospital appointment in the afternoon for a scan- just as a follow up to check everything is OK. I pretty much thought it was, but it is nice to be sure (seeing as I had no idea about the cyst in the first place!)- I had to drink a litre of water an hour before, and when I got there, they had a sign saying appointments were running late- ahh! But actually mine was bang on time, and the person (radiographer?) doing the scan said everything looked as it should, which was a great relief. So I celebrated with a soya chai latte- mmmmm. Even sat outside as it was quite warm (or maybe I was warm from rushing about and generally being nervous being at the hospital).

I also had time to pop to the shops and treated myself to a few bits.

Chai tea (mainly for Andy but I do have it sometimes), dark coconut chocolate, a raw coconut bar (looks a bit like a Lara bar I think) and a mini coconut chocolate bar (I am loving coconut right now) and, the most exciting thing of all, some sunflower seed butter!!!! Even the lady at the checkout was interested in it as she had not seen it before- it took me ages to choose smooth over crunchy as they had both. It is this stuff, (but smooth) and I have never heard of the brand before but it seems to be all over the internet.

I then went to get my hair cut, as they are open late on Thursdays (taking advantage as next week I have decided I am starting back at Body pump- yay- more reasons to celebrate).

Always looks so shiny after that, and I love having someone wash my hair OK so you can’t really tell in the photo but it was cut, and is so much tidier than it was before.

Anyway, good things all round I feel like my energy levels are finally returning to normal again, and although my stamina for running is clearly much lower, I am building up again and managing OK with it. I might make the half in September after all (well not have to walk some of it I mean).

So, the virtual cafe is open- what will you have to join with me celebrating?

The plan was 8 min run, 1 min walk, repeated for the 3 mile route. It still takes me ages to run it, as I think when I am moving I am going at 11-12 min miles on average, but I didn’t need to stop at any time, and kept to the time limits. The jump up from 5 mins seemed big in a way, but I basically made my head tell my legs they could do it.

I also made a lovely lemon and lime cake at the weekend (for Sunday tea)- it was a basic lemon cake recipe (sponge cake with lemon zest in it) to which I added lime zest to. Then you pour it with lemon and lime juice when it comes out of the oven (pierce it first), leave it to cool and then top with a lemon/lime icing (lemon and lime juice with icing sugar) and then sprinkle with zest.

Look at how yellow it is on the inside! It was delicious- the recipe was from my National Trust recipe book and I am very sure I will make it again. It went perfectly with the summery weather over the weekend- shame it is back to rain now!

Share a celebration with me please- I am in the mood for positives right now!

Last week I was kindly sent some Twinings tea, to celebrate the relaunch of the Cutty Sark. Following years of renovation, the Cutty Sark (the fastest tea clipper) is now open again. They have some Cutty Sark Twinings tea caddies to celebrate- with either gunpowder green tea or black tea. They sent me the black tea, which is a blend of black teas from China. I love the tea caddy, first of all- the design is fab with the ship and all sorts of equipment (anchors, telescopes, light-houses etc) all over it. Plus I much prefer loose-leaf tea to teabags and I can re-use it once it is empty.

The tea is great too- nice and strong, and perfect with something sweet!

Today I had some with a blueberry almond scone (and lemon curd)- perfect.

There is information about the history of the Cutty Sark here- it is very interesting (I love the picture of the old map on the page)- my favourite fact is that when it arrived it contained 1450 tonnes of tea! More than in my tea cupboard! And of course you can buy the Cutty Sark tea on their website.

And onto the scones:

The recipe I found was here, and I changed it a teeny bit, making them vegan (well of course until you cover them with lemon curd). I weighed out the ingredients to make it easier next time, but you can use the cups measurements too.

Blueberry almond scones (vegan)

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour (270g)

3 tsp baking powder

3 tbs caster sugar (45g)

1/2 tsp mixed spice and cinnamon

5 tsb softened pure spread (55g)

1/2 cup almond milk (110g- 110ml?)

1 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup fresh blueberries (80g)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 220C, and grease a baking tray.

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and spices in a bowl, and stir to combine.

Add the spread and rub in until it forms breadcrumbs.

Put the almond extract into the milk. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, and pour in the milk. Stir to combine briefly, then pour on the blueberries. Mix until it forms a soft dough. I added a splash more milk to mine, but you might not need to.

Pat it into a round, and then cut into wedges. Mine made 8.

Place on the greased tray, brush with a little more almond milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15-20 mins, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

The dough being shaped.

Fresh from the oven.

Cooling on the rack.

And finally being enjoyed with some lemon curd. Yum. Seriously these were pretty easy to make, don’t need any unusual ingredients, and are so tasty too. You could probably grate in some lemon zest to add to the flavour too.

I have been craving scones for ages, and these hit the spot! What is your favourite treat to go alongside tea? 

Thanks for the comments about my hip- I looked up loads of stretches on the internet in the end, and didn’t even go on a walk on Wednesday or Thursday. By Friday it was loads better, and was just stiff if I sat for too long, and so Friday evening we had a walk after dinner, just to test it out.

Anyway, all was well so this morning I went out on a run.

In one of my new Thoosa vest tops, and my lovely Bondi band too! I love the Bondi band- when it was colder I was having it over my ears too, to keep them warm, but now it is warmer it just works like a hair/sweatband.

I did a 3 mile route, 5 mins running, 1 min walking, and all was well. The wind was pretty chilly, but that is much nicer than being too hot.

Smiley and shiny when I got back home again! I like the before and after- see how much my mood improves when I get to go running

Then I got to use my new bowl and cup for breakfast!

This breakfast was amazing! Blueberries (massive ones on offer from Ocado that taste delicious), Dorset muesli, almonds and Kara coconut milk, all left to soak overnight. Then I added some cinnamon this morning. It was so creamy. Plus a mint tea as I was a bit cold.

Earlier in the week I made some more macaroons (mostly because standing up was more comfy than sitting down):

The pink ones (were meant to be orange- I used some yellow and some red food gel but the yellow didn’t mix in very well!) are orange flavour, and the purple ones are coconut flavour.

I made a ganache for the filling- equal amounts of cream (I used some Alpro soya cream) and dark chocolate. You warm up the cream, then pour it over the chocolate and stir until it melts the chocolate. Then leave it to thicken up.

Yum that ganache was good! I have never made it before but it was so simple. I don’t really like cream, and so I normally get put off recipes that use it, because the rest would go to waste, plus I never know if I will like it, but using the soya cream worked really well, and as it has a longer date than cream (and comes in a smaller carton) I might try it in other things too. Anyway, they went down well at work again!

This weekend I have plans to plant some new seeds, as I did plant some before but the little greenhouse they were in got blown over, and they were not salvageable. We need to get to the allotment and plant our carrot seeds too. I might make some blueberry scones, or maybe a lemon cake. And hopefully get out for some walks in this sunshine.

Have a lovely weekend everyone

I have been taking pictures for ages, and not posting them. I was going to do it for WIAW but missed that, so here we go!

Breakfast:

(In my new cup and bowl)- peaches, muesli, almonds and coconut milk left overnight, along with mint tea.

Lunch:

I am having a bit of a crumpet obsession right now- one with pb and jam, and one with lime curd. Plus my lovely Whittards chocolate tea (black tea with coconut, cocoa beans and macadamia nuts). Soooo good!

Tea (who knows what kind it was) with a Hotel Chocolat penguin left over from Christmas. Pretty chocolate lasts a long time because I never want to eat it!

Bread making:

One lot of sourdough with hemp seeds (for a little loaf), and one lot with fruits soaked in lemon green tea (for mini loaves).

Yum!

Dinners:

I took this with me one day- spinach leaves, roasted sweet potato, red and yellow peppers, butternut squash (all roasted in hemp oil), sprinkled with hemp seeds and served with a little tub of hummus.

Spinach, balsamic, roasted squash, peppers, courgettes, baby corn, basil tofu, hemp seeds.

Wholemeal pasta with lovely zest pesto, peppers, courgettes, fresh basil and pine nuts. I am sure I added some cheese on the top too.

Mystery dinner! I defrosted something from the freezer which turned out to be sweet potato burgers/ patties, alongside a salad with cucumber, spinach, pepper, basil tofu and some hummus.

Snacks:

This is the best snack ever! 30g peanut flour, with a little coconut milk to make a sauce, then stirred together with a chocolate alpro pot, and sprinkled with some trail mix.

It is nice with the caramel or vanilla ones too, but the chocolate rules

Some baking:

I made some of the protein brownies I saw Laura make- as I have hemp protein powder and have not been that enamoured with the flavour. I had to use some raisins as I didn’t have all dates.

I sprinkled the top with some cherry raisins too, to add to the cherry flavour.

I weighed out the ingredients- mine came to:

120g raisins/dates

100g almonds (soaked)

30g dried cherries

30g cocoa powder

50g hemp protein powder

and a few tbs water.

I had one as a snack at work and it was nice- I can taste the hemp in there, but they do taste lovely and gave me energy for the afternoon. The rest are wrapped in cling film in the fridge and ready for other days.

And for fun, a new top:

It is a vest (from Threadless) but with this weather I have not worn it yet.

Running news:

This week I was feeling a bit worried about increasing the distance (this happened to me when I first started running too- I totally lose confidence in myself) but I went out for 5 min run, 1 min walk this week on Tuesday. All was good- but then later on that day I felt like my hip had popped out and needs to pop back in again, and have been limping since. It is not down to the running because I had it on Saturday when we were walking up some steps, but it went away again, and was fine when I got back from my run, it was only much later that it came on. I barely slept on Tuesday night because no position was comfy. I hobbled about all day Wednesday (it seems worse once I have been still for ages so I have tried to keep moving or standing at home) and looked up some stretches on the internet last night which seemed to help. But it is still a bit sore, and not normal, so not sure when I will get my next run in. Grrr. Any ideas how to get it to go back into place?

On Wednesday (my birthday) Andy gave me a card which said I would have to wait for the weekend for my birthday. I was thinking it was something coming in the post! He later told me we were going away for the weekend, but would not say where. I guessed that it was the Lake District, as we have fancied it for ages and now have our National Trust membership. I had planned to meet some friends at the waffle house on Friday after work, but he said that was OK, and that we would leave later in the evening.

He said to pack for weather similar to here, and comfy clothes (which again helped me with my conclusions). Anyway, we packed up, drove away and ended up at Heathrow! We had a hotel there for the night, as we had an early flight the next morning (but I still didn’t know where we were going). It was all rather exciting, but a bit nerve-racking too. I am not a nervous flyer, but I like to pack ages in advance and know what I am packing for! I was guessing still- my main guess was Norway as we have fancied there for ages too.

Anyway, we checked in for our flight (just after 5am! The airport hotel was a good idea) and it turned out we were going to Paris! I had discounted Paris because I thought the Eurostar was easier (but no availability for the bank holiday weekend).

I have trouble keeping my eyes open in photos- this was the best one I think!

Anyway, once we landed we got the train into the centre of Paris, left our bag in the luggage locker at the station and went for a long walk! We went to the Arc De Triomphe, then to the Eiffel tower (but not up it- I am not keen on heights and have done it once, plus there was a 2 hour queue!), then back to the Champs-Elysees, all the way down it, to the Louvre, and then finally to the train station. At one point we bought sandwiches (I had a lovely Avocado salad one) and sat in the park for a bit. By the Eiffel tower there was a couple in wedding clothes, and tourists were going up and having their photos taken with the wedding couple! How strange.

I knew that our hotel was not in Paris, but I only worked it out once we went to get a train in the evening and saw the signs for Disneyland Paris! We stayed in a hotel one stop along from the parks (and it had a bus that went there too) and had two lovely days in the park. Although Andy did tell me it was going to be a relaxing weekend- not quite!

We were really lucky with the weather. Saturday was quite warm in the end, Sunday was more overcast, but dry (lucky as we stayed at the park until 10.30 for the fireworks show) and then Monday was so warm!

I bought some macaroons (they are mini ones)- fruit flavours like mango, raspberry, orange and coconut- for ideas on flavours of course.

So cute! We bought lovely french bread to take for lunch in the parks (the parks claimed that all eateries have a vegetarian suggestion, but in most places it was a salad with lettuce and grated carrot, lots of them had parmeasan cheese, and one place the suggestion was a salmon dish!) and also went to the Earl of Sandwich, (have only seen them in the US before and they do lovely fresh sandwiches and wraps) and in fact I didn’t eat any of the macaroons while I was there. I did however get treated to a crepe with nutella- mmmm.

I also got a replacement cup (remember when my Minnie mug broke?) and a bowl to match! The original cup was from there- me and Andy went for a few days one Christmas just after we had our offer accepted on our house, so they were our house-warming gifts to each other so it was sad when it broke for sentimental reasons.  Anyway, I was pleased to get replacements, even though ours no longer match.

Coming home turned out to be a bit stressful! Andy had booked a TGV from Disney to the airport, but it was running an hour late with nothing sooner, so we knew at that point we would miss our flight(a taxi would have taken too long as well as we looked into it). We had to get the airlines’ number from the tourist information, rang up and managed to get on a later flight, for the price difference of 500 Euros! Anyway, while I rang the airline, Andy rang the insurance company and they think we are covered- phew! I did have to get the TGV lady to write it on some headed notepaper for the insurance company though- luckily her English was much better than my French! The flight back was so quick- and it took us ten minutes to get through passport control and get our bag- and the bus for the parking was right there! Phew!

When I got home I remembered the macaroons in the suitcase- I managed to salvage some, but the rest were crumbs! Oops!

It is strange to think that this time yesterday I was wandering around a theme park, and today I have been to work as normal! Anyway it was a fun weekend, and a great birthday present. Back to reality now!

How was your weekend?

I opened it on the way back to the car, and was so excited and surprised to find it was a birthday parcel from the lovely Lucy! Tea + chocolate = birthdays! Those chocolate pies are in the fridge and ready! I had the cinnamon, cardamom and ginger tea last night and it was delicious, and I tried the chocolate with stevia today (despite saying that when I was in the US last summer I had some iced tea with stevia and it had a funny aftertaste)- anyway the chocolate was yummy- I loved the little bits of freeze-dried berries in it. So thanks Lucy!

When I got to work I was so surprised to see a bag on my chair with some gifts in it too from some friends at work- how lovely.

I put all the macaroons and brownies in the staffroom and I think they got pretty positive reviews!

I left work pretty quickly, and decided to have a short run (as a birthday treat!)- this week I have done 4 min run, 1 min walk, and have upped the length of the route to about 3 miles now. It is still going OK, although I am a little paranoid about doing damage still. I keep getting stitches, which is unlike me, and the trouble is the stitch pain is right where my actual stitches were (where my scars are) but anyway I have my hospital scan too and I am sure everything will be fine. I did have a moment of sadness (or frustration, or something else) when I realised that last year for my birthday we went to the peak district, and I did that 20 mile race in preparation for the marathon. I mean running for half an hour non-stop is unattainable at the moment, yet one year ago I ran for 4 hours without stopping. But then the sensible voice told me to just get on with it.

After some Earl Grey tea (made my Andy while I had a shower) I opened my cards- I had a lovely message from my parents which summed up how I was feeling- my Mum had written than I have had a year of ups and downs, but it was a fantastic achievement that myself and Andy ran a marathon last summer, and even though I have been unwell I am finally on the mend now. I also had a card from some relatives who mentioned that they will see me on the start line of the Great North Run (I have a charity place for a charity that they are very involved in- they run it for the charity each year)- that made me panic a bit about getting up to the distance. But again I am telling myself off and just taking it a week at a time.

I got to open some presents too- some lovely baking tins (which I am going to use to store my baking equipment in as they are too nice to use), cupcake cases, cookery books, a lovely address book, plus a bag of Lush goodies and a posh chopping board set. I have to wait until the weekend for my present from Andy- and keep the days free so I am quite excited to find out what we are doing (Fingers crossed for a tea room visit )

Also, I treated myself this week to some running tops from Thoosa. I got a racer back vest and also a couple of scoop vests. Anyway I got an email and as they were voted best women’s running clothes by Runners World, if you enter the code RW before 7th May you get 30% off, which is not to be sniffed at. The fabric is sweat wicking, but they are cut in a looser style, so I think they will be lovely in the heat of the summer, plus they are more flattering. And the vest does not have an “inbuilt bra” (which what is the point of anyway? Who would just have that and not an exercise bra???)- so easier to put on! Anyway, it did say to share the email, so I have

Have you treated yourself to anything recently? 

And thanks again Lucy- that was so kind of you

Preparation seemed to be the key- I made two lots and the second lot seemed better. The egg whites had to be at room temperature, and I weighed out all the other ingredients, lined the baking trays and got the piping bag ready. Whipping up those egg whites made my arm ache- I used an electric whisk but it took ages.

A tip I picked up during the demo was to put the piping bag (end snipped off) in a glass- made for much easier filling. Then if it is dripping you can put the end back in the glass whilst piping, so it does not go everywhere. Optional- have icing sugar and ground almonds all over your worktop.

My first attempt was pink ones, which I flavoured with a little almond extract (they have ground almonds in them anyway), and yes I need to practise my piping skills!

Once they cooled I sandwiched them together with a little dark chocolate spread.

The second batch were lemon flavoured (although the yellow colouring was hard to mix in).

I sandwiched the lemon ones together with lemon curd.

All ready to take to work

I also made some chocolate orange brownies (my usual brownie recipe with some orange extract and some chocolate orange buttons mixed in) just in case the macaroons didn’t work out! I put them in the cake cases once they were cooked to make them easier for people to eat.

Personally, although they look pretty, I can’t see the appeal particularly- they seem like posh coloured meringues really. But they are fun to do because I get to use my food colourings! I much prefer the taste of the brownies.

Last week a friend asked if I fancied going with her to a cake decorating show in London- of course I said yes! It was this show (still on tomorrow if anyone is interested).

When we first arrived we had a little wander, just to see where everything was. There were demonstrations, classes (but you had to book those in advance and pay, so we didn’t do any of those) and loads of stalls selling all sorts of cake decorating paraphernalia.

There were also competitions, so we had a wander around to see some of the winning cakes.

This was my favourite- so cute!

I also loved the panda- so sweet. There were loads of amazing cakes though- there was a section for flower art (or called something similar- basically flowers made with sugar paste) and they were amazing- they were so delicate and looked real. There was also a 4ft high warrior cake.

I stole this off my friends’ facebook page as I didn’t take a photo- I am sure she won’t mind.

I then saw a cake with spots and a bow (a bit like my Christmas cakes) but then I realised that was for the age 12-18 category! More my level I think!

We then went back to the start and bought a show guide, which we then got signed by Jo Wheatley (she won the Great British Bake Off and had a blog). She was presenting a demonstration a bit later on, so after buying a few bits we each bought a muffin for lunch (I was going to get a sandwich, but none of them looked that nice and then I saw the price- £4.30!!!) and went to watch the demo. Apologies for the photos- I have no idea how to zoom on my phone!

She was so sweet- she got kids up to help her, and gave all the things she made to the children in the audience too. She made some macaroons (something that I have never attempted but looked like they would not be as hard as I thought), some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and some chocolate lolly’s.

We also watched another demo, and this was rather weird. The chef made a chocolate cake, and got a child to help him decorate it with chocolate ganache and raspberries, but then he passed the bowl of left over chocolate ganache around the audience, and was encouraging people to dip their fingers in and have a try! Some people think I am a bit funny about things like that, but I do think that it was very unhygienic.

There was also a competition going on (a bit like the Food Network Challenge)- there were two teams of three, and they had to make a cake to show the four seasons. It had to be a certain height, and I think altogether they had about three and a half hours of time- during the day we kept popping by to see how it was going on.

They are the Easter themed ones from Friday.

The scariest bit to watch was when they had to transport their cakes from where they were working to the final table (again like those challenges).

You can’t see them that clearly, which is a shame. The really tall one (on the left) had a later for each season. The top one was my favourite- it was a little house with snow on the roof, decorated with candy canes- so pretty.

The one on the right was done by a group of friends (whereas the other team were professional) and the skill on parts of their cake was just amazing.

We bought a few more bits, then headed back to the car for a sit down! We had been walking around for hours.

Here are my goodies! I was quite restrained. In the end I bought a Fancy magazine (which came with jelly beans and some random oat bran!), a set of cake decorating tools (a bargain as they are usually about £4 each but the whole set was £6), some flavourings for icing/cakes (almond, coconut, lime and peppermint), some foil cupcake cases and a really smooth roll up mat to roll out icing on.

I got home at about 5 in the end, and was pretty tired from walking around all day. I had a little rest, and then headed out for a run/walk. I have been out twice this week already, and each time this week I have done 3 min run, 1 min walk (last week was 2 min walk)- my route is only just over 2 miles, but I have coped with it so far. It’s weird because at first I feel like I struggle to get my breathing under control, and my legs feel fine, but then towards the end my calves get more stiff, and my breathing seems fine. It rained a bit, but not too hard, so I didn’t mind- although I should have worn my visor as my glasses get hard to see through!

I had grand plans to make some bean/chickpea burgers, and roast some veggies, but I was tired and hungry (and Andy is out at the football all day so no-one to cook for me!) so in the end I toasted some left over sourdough bread (I made some on Friday) and had it with pesto, hummus, spinach and an Early grey tea. Perfect.

Right- Andy won’t be back for a few hours so I might have time for some baking now

Ages ago I was sent a box of Lemon Green tea to try out.

Green tea is my least favourite tea (I only knew I was being sent some tea- no idea what type), but I found that the lemon flavour in it was lovely and refreshing. I had to let it brew for less than a minute, but it was rather zesty. I find with green tea that less is more (with the brewing time)- it seems to stew quite quickly- but leaving it for just a minute means that it is more delicate tasting.

I also had it as an iced tea (back in the Spring when it was warm- remember that warm weather?). To make it, I put the teabag in a cup and topped with about an inch of water. I let it steep for a minute, removed the teabag, then poured it into a glass and topped up the glass with cold water. I let it cool in the fridge for a bit, before adding a slice of lemon and some ice.  This was delicious and very refreshing.

But what I really enjoyed the most (surprise surprise) was baking with it. Ages ago when I was in Waitrose I picked up a recipe card for a banana and fruit loaf (for Fairtrade week- that shows how long ago it was) and the dried fruit was soaked in green tea. As there was lemon zest in the recipe (actually it was orange zest, but I had lemons!) too, I thought lemon green tea would be perfect. I figure as the recipe cards are free in store I can write it out for this blog (plus I did change it a bit).

Banana Green tea loaf.

Ingredients:

I green teabag

50g dried fruit (the recipe says cranberries, and I used a pack of Bear berries and cherries)

225g self raising flour (I used half plain and half wholemeal)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbs ground cardamom

50g butter (or spread)

100g brown sugar

Grated zest of one lemon

1 medium egg, beaten

2 large ripe bananas, mashed

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a loaf pan. Put the green teabag in a cup, pour over 150ml boiling water, and add the dried fruits. Leave for 5 minutes, then remove the teabag.

Sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the cardamom, then rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and lemon zest.

Whisk the egg with the tea-infused fruits, and add to the dry mixture. Finally stir in the mashed bananas. I was unclear whether to add the water or not (as the recipe did specify 150ml water, but then it also did not say whether to add the water or discard it)- in the end I added several tbs of the water because the batter seemed quite dry- I suppose some bananas are bigger than others so that would make the batter more moist.

Anyway, don’t over mix the batter; pour it into the loaf pan and smooth the top down. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50-60 minutes, until well risen, golden and firm to touch. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Optional- wrap and leave for 24 hours to allow the flavours to develop.

The lemon green tea soaking with the dried fruits.

The loaf cooling on the rack (alongside the little sourdough rolls I made).

A slice of the loaf- yes the last point was optional and we did not wait to try it!

This cake was lovely- the bananas made it nice and moist, and the cherries and berries were lovely. I usually soak dried fruit before I bake with it, as it helps it to plump up, but I usually just use water. I think the lemon green tea added a little extra to the flavour.

I am now looking forward to trying them out in different baked goods- Green tea cupcakes sound very summery, and I am sure I have seen a green tea biscotti recipe before now too.

Thanks Twinings! And if you like them you can visit the Twinings Facebook page.

So, any good green tea recipes that I should try out? Feel free to link! Thanks.